Sack-packer.



improved mechanism applied thereto.

l NITE Tl SATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE M. BUSKEY, OF CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND.

SACK-PACKER- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1907.

Application filed July 19,1906. Serial No. 326,912.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE M. BUsKEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cumberland, in the county of Allegany' and State of Maryland, have invented a, certain new will automaticallyeflect a depression of the platform to the lowest limit of its movement after the packing operation has been completed, to enable a packed sack to be removed from the platform and an empty sack to be placed thereon. in readiness for filling.

Under the construction at present in use in machines of this class, after the predetermined quantity of material is packed in the sack, the packing mechanism is thrown out of gear and it is then necessary for the operator to depress the platform on which the sack is supported either by foot or hand in' order to move said platform to a position sufficiently low down to admit of the removal of the packed sack and the substitution of a new or empty sack preparatory to the raising of the platform.

By means of the present invention, which, under the preferred embodiment thereof, is in the form of an attachment applicable to machines already in use, after the packing mechanism is automatically thrown out of operation, means are thrown into operation to automatically depress or carry the sackholding platform downward further, so that the mouth of the sack will pass out of engagement with the nozzle of the hopper, enabling said packed sack to be removed and a new sack substituted, whereupon by a suitable device, the platform may be tripped and allowed to return to its initial position ready to receive the material and have the same packed therein.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sackpacker, showingIthe 1g.

2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the foot-operated platform release mechanism.

The sack packing machine illustrated in the accompanying drawings is of the usual well-known type at present in use and comprises the ordinary frame 1, platform 2, platform elevating shaft 3, platform resisting and elevating spring 4, hopper 5 with discharge nozzle 6, and the elevating chain 7, which connect with the cross-bar 8 of the standard 9 which is attached to the platform and travels upward and downward therewith,

the said chains 7 winding upon the shaft 3 which is in turn operated by a chain 10 which connects at one end to the shaft 3 and passes from thence upward over a pulley 1.1 and downward where it connects to the spring 4, said spring 4 being connected at its lower end to a fixed bracket or arm 12 connected with the machine frame.

13 designates the packer shaft which is journaled in suitable hearings in the machine frame and provided with one or more packing screws 14 operating within the nozzle 6 of the hopper. Said. shaft is also provided with a bevel gear 15 which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 16 mounted on a- 7 drive shaft 17 arranged horizontally and mounted in a bearing 18 carried by a vertically movable slide 19 working in guides 20 on the machine frame, whereby the shaft 17 is movable up and down to drop the gear 16 out of mesh with the gear 15 at the proper moment or, in other words, when the sack has been filled to the predetermined extent, any well known mechanism being employed for dropping the gear 16 out of mesh at the proper moment.

All of the parts thus far described are of the usual construction and arrangement and operate in the usual manner.

In carrying out the present invention, the shaft 8 is provided with a band pulley 21 and the shaft 17 is provided with a corresponding band pulley 22, while a normally loose belt 23 passes around the said pulleys 21 and 22. In connectionwith the belt 23, I employ a tightener pulley 24 which is movable across the plane of the belt for the purpose of tightening said belt and enabling motion to be imparted from the shaft 17 to the shaft 3 through the medium of said belt. The tightener pulley 24 is mounted on a swinging arm or lever '25 hung on the shaft 17 and having connected therewith a lever 26 actuated by a rod 27 having its lower end connected to a screw bolt 28, which passes through one arm of a lever 29 fulcrumed at an intermediate point 30 on themachine frame, said bolt or rod 28 being adjustable by means of a nut 31 screwed thereon beneath the lever 29, as shown in Fig. 2. The construction described provides for taking up slack in the connection 27 to enable the tightener pulley 24 to act with propereffect on the loose belt 23.

Mounted on the shaft 3 is a friction pulley 32 around which passes a friction band 33 one end of which is connected to the machine frame and the other end to a friction lever 34, said lever being mounted at one end on the shaft 3 and having mounted on its pro jecting end a weight 35 which may be set at any point on the lever by means of notches 36 to impart the desired frictional hold to the band 23.

Mounted adjacent to the bottom of the frame of the machine is a rock-shaft 37 having a crank 38 which acts on the upper free end of a catch 39 which is pivotally mounted at its lo'werend on the base 40 of the frame and provided on its inner face with one or more teeth or projections 41 adapted to engage a corresponding tooth 42 on the platform 2, as shown in Fig. 1, for the purpose of holding the platform locked or latched when in its lowermost position. The rock-shaft 37 is provided with another crank 43 to which is connected a link 44 which connects with one arm of a pedal-lever 45, the opposite end of which is royided with a foot-piece or pedal 46 so t1at'the operator, by depressing the pedal 46, may rock the shaft 43 and swing the catch 39 laterally so as to move the tooth thereof out of engagement with the interlocking tooth 42 on the platform, thus releasing the platform and allowing the same to be drawn upward by the action of the chains 7, shaft 3 and spring 4, hereinabove described.

Connected with the crank 43 is a rod 47 which extends upward and is pivotally con nected at 48 to a dog 49 which is pivotally mounted at one end 50 on the machine frame, while the opposite or free end of said dog bears and operates against the inner face of the latch bar 51 which extends upward and is connected at its upper end to the shaft 17, said I latch bar being provided with a shoulder 52 which rests upon the upper edge of the lever 29 above referred to so as to depress and rock said lever 29 when the drop gear moves downward.

The rod 47 is provided with a pivoted or jointed extension 53 which is bent or offset laterally at its upper end to provide a shoulder or rest 54, which underlies the brake or friction lever 34, as shown in Fig. 2. Mounted just beneath the lever 34 is a small lever 55 which is fulcrumed at an intermediate point, as shown at 56, on the machine frame, the upper end of said lever 55 lying beneath sweep of movement of the brake or friction lever 34, and in this way the machine may be set to throw out of gear or cease the packing operation at any desired time, according to the amount of material to be packed in the sack. The lever 29 is provided with a weight 60 adjustable lengthwise along one arm thereof to vary the degree of resistance of said lever.

Beginning with the parts in the relation shown in Fig. 1, with the gears 15 and 16 out of mesh and the machine at rest, the opera.- tion is as follows:-An empty sack is placed on the platform and around the tube (3, then the operator presses down the pedal +16, which rocks the shaft 37, pushes up rod 47 and also raises part 53 and lifts the brake lever 34, which allows the platform 2 to rise to the bottom of the tube 6. The operator then works the trip (not shown) connected with the lever 61. and thus lifts the gear 16 into mesh with gear 15 which starts the packing screw 14. As the platform descends, it trips the lever 61 and shaft 17, and the gear 16 drops and pushes down bar 51, when by means of the shoulder 52 resting on the lever 29, the latter is caused to pull down the connection 57. The latter rocks the lever 55, raises the brake lever 34, rocks the lever 26 and presses down on the tightener pulley 24, thus tightening the belt 23. This starts the shaft 3 which takes up on the spring 4 until the platform reaches its lowest limit where it engages catch 39. This rocks the shaft 37 causing it to raise the bar 47 and the latter operates the dog 49, which pushes the bar 51 outward far enough to carry the shoulder 52 off the lever 29 and allows the weight 60 to pull down on the part 27 and rock the lever 26 to raise the tigl'itener pulley 24 oil the belt 23. This throws the machine out of operation with the platform down ready to receive another sack.

The mechanism hereinabove described for depressing the platform may be applied to any of the usual forms of sack-packing machines at present in use, including those in which a friction clutch is employed to throw the packer into and out of operation, without in any way changing the principle of this in.- vention, or the device may be manufactured at the same time with the machine, as may be preferred. It will be observed that the mechanism is thrown into action. automatically after the sack reaches the filled position, and it will further be seen that the platform is held depressed as long as may be necessary to give the operator an opportunity to remove a packed sack and substitute an empty one. The machine is again thrown into operation at any moment by simply tripping the platform by means of the pedal lever 45 and swinging the usual lever 61 which throws the gear 16 into mesh with the gear 15. It will be apparent that a weight may besubstituted for the spring 4 and that various other changes may be made in the general construction of the machine without departing from the principles of this invention.

1 claim:

1. An attachment for sack-packers embodying mechanism which is thrown into operation automatically by the packing mechanism and which operates to depress the sack supporting platform to a greater degree than it is depressed by the sack packing mechanism.

2. In a sack-packer, the combination with a movable platform, means for moving said platform, and sack-packing mechanism, of mechanism arranged to be thrown automatically into action when the packing operation ceases, operating to depress the platform to a greater degree than it is depressed by the packing mechanism.

3. The combination with a sack-packer embodying a vertically movable sack-carrying platform, and packing mechanism, of means automatically thrown into action by a shifting movement of a portion of the packing mechanism and operating to depress the platform to a point further than it is depressed by the packing operation, and means for holding said platform when so depressed.

4. The combination with a sack-packer embodying a vertically movable sack-supporting platform, and packing mechanism, of means for automatically driving the platform downward after the packing operation ceases, said means being tripped automatically by a portion of the packing mechanism, means for holding said platform depressed, and means for tripping and releasing the platform, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a sack-packer embodying a vertically movable platform, and packing mechanism embodying a drop gear, of means for driving the platform downward beyond the point where it is left by the packing mechanism, said means being automatically thrown into operation. by the movement of the drop gear, and means for holding said platform depressed until tripped and released.

6. The combination with a sack-packer embodying a vertically movable platform, and packing mechanism embodying a platform elevating shaft and connections, of means for driving the platform downward beyond the point to which it is carried by the packing mechanism, said means embodying a loose driving belt connecting the main driving shaft and the platform elevating shaft, and a tightener pulley for, said belt having connections whereby it is automatically shifted to tighten the belt at the mo-' ment of cessation of the packing operation.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE M. BUSKEY.

-Witnesses:

EDWARD K. MAGRUDER, OSCAR JoNEs. 

